Protecting and restoring God’s creation
Rooted in the Catholic Christian tradition, the century-old Ignatius Jesuit Centre in Guelph, Ontario, shares the sacredness of creation through its public programs in spiritual development, education, community, and through their plans to restore an old-growth forest for the next 500 years.
Founded in 2006 by the Ignatius Jesuit Centre, in collaboration with the Guelph International Resource Centre, the Old-Growth Forest Project uses community-based restoration to engage the community in healing the Earth. This 93-acre nature sanctuary includes trails, forests, meadows, wetlands and waterways that create a green corridor connecting the Guelph Lake Conservation Area to the Guelph-Eramosa Trail. It also supports the health of the Grand River watershed and the Great Lakes. Part of the traditional territory of the Anishnaabe, the Attawandaron, and the Haudenosaunee, and on the land of the Between the Lakes Treaty with the Mississaugas of the Credit, much of the original forest on the site was removed during colonization, with some portions converted to agricultural land. Now, through an ecological restoration vision that incorporates Indigenous knowledge, the Centre is working with local students and community volunteers to restore and protect the area’s diverse ecology to create an old-growth forest.
The Centre has already added over 11,000 native trees and shrubs to the site, and has successfully decommissioned the Marden Creek dam, freeing the creek for the first time in 180 years and allowing the return of its cold-water creek ecosystem. The site offers a beautiful and peaceful setting for forest hikes, spiritual renewal and nature connection. The Centre also offers a range of programs and activities that help participants gain skills in ecology, reforestation, stream rehabilitation and natural approaches to invasive plant control.
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